Re: Phase Change Vests

[Tpcutter@xxxxxxx]

In a message dated 9/7/05 11:17:45 AM Eastern  Standard Time, 
tbrown@xxxxxxxxxxx writes:
<<I also have a cooling  vest.  This thing has a bunch of pellets sewn into 
it.
You soak it in  the sink for a while and let it hang until it stops dripping.
The pellets  hold a lot of water and the vest keeps slowly evaporating water
for  hours.   When it's really hot, this thing works.   There are  several
brands of these.   A friend found these on line a few years  ago.  It's the
ugliest thing you could imagine...flesh  colored!   But it works when you
really want to stay cool.   Easy to pack when dry.   Doesn't take a ton of
room.    When wet, it weighs 3 or 4 pounds.   I paid something on the order  
of
$35 for this one.   I think the newer ones are a little more  expensive, but
the ones I've seen all look better than  mine...ugh.   If you crash with one 
of
these, my guess is that it  will act as extra padding and protect you a  bit
more.>>

These vests work great out West  where the heat is dry. In the East, where 
our heat comes pre-moistened, these  vests are pretty much useless, unless you 
really want a rash all day. High  humidity seems to defeat the evaporative 
cooling concept. It's a real bummer,  too, because I bought two vests and two neck 
coolers (my son calls it a neck  penis) and they worked great during the hot 
spell in Spokane last summer. By the  time we arrived back in Pa, they had 
totally stopped being  effective.



Tom Cutter
Yardley,  PA
http://www.RubberChickenRacingGarage.com  

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